


Old Scars, New Feelings

by allhailthenerdmage



Series: The World Beneath the World [2]
Category: Cow Chop, The Creatures (Youtube RPF)
Genre: Abused Aleks (Past), Aleks is kinda smol, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Beta Brett, Blood Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, No Smut, Non-Sexual A/B/O Dynamics, OT3, Omega James, Past Abuse, Protectiveness, Slow Burn, Unnamed OCs - Freeform, Vampire Aleks, Vampire Broods, Vampires have pain kinks pass it on, Werewolf Mates, ish, probably, wolf packs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2018-12-15 23:23:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11816349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allhailthenerdmage/pseuds/allhailthenerdmage
Summary: Everything about Aleks should annoy them, from his unnaturally dark eyes that resemble dried blood, to the absurdly large fangs that poke out over his lips when he smiles and the scent of blood and dust that follows him everywhere. But James and Brett have never been too keen on tradition.(Probably Slow to Update lol)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> SO. I gotta put something here to explain the wolf dynamics; Their positions aren't permanent and are subject to change. For example; in the pack Brett is a beta, but with only James and Aleks he is an alpha by way of being the most powerful wolf in the 'pack.' Therefor James would be a beta and Aleks would lack a classification as he is not a wolf.  
> So, summarized:  
> Brett is both a Beta and an Alpha  
> James is both an Omega and a Beta  
> And Aleks is none of the above!  
> Thanks for reading ya'll!

The peace negotiations are a mess, though it's not really a surprise to anyone involved. James barely holds back a sigh as his Alpha nearly launches across the table, claws outstretched for the vampire elder’s throat. Like that would do any good. he rolls his eyes, old bastard doesn’t have any blood to spill anyway.

It's been at least two centuries since the clans were allies, maybe it was time to let the dream die. He must have said the last bit out loud because Brett cuffs him over the head lightly and hushes him, though in all honesty he looks just as bored. James can feel a headache coming, they’ve been at this for at least a day, and the vaulted ceilings of the hall are making everything echo.

The “talks” go on for a few more minutes before one of the elder’s brood seems to break and leaps at James’ Alpha, fangs bared in an attempt to silence the loud wolf. He’s swatted out of the air easily by one of the betas and the Alpha glares at the elder, a silent order that the elder manages not to argue with as he files his brood out of the hall. James notices a smaller vampire linger behind slightly as the others leave, but he is swept off his feet and dragged out of the hall by a significantly bigger vamp. He’s almost surprised to see the small vamp fighting back as the brood leaves, smelling of fear and desperation, but new turns are usually pretty flighty so he just snorts.

James’ attention is captured by his Alpha growling orders, he and Brett were to guard the doors in case one of the vampires didn’t get the memo. While the others were to get some sleep, there was a hunt coming up after all. He barely manages to hold back another, heavier sigh as his pack split and made their way out of the hall, door duty sucked _ass._

* * *

 

It was pretty cold out, though it was also January so James couldn’t really complain about unwarranted weather. He turns to Brett to complain about something else, but before he can say anything a scent catches his nose, one of iron and dust. A quick elbow to Brett’s ribs alerts the other wolf to the smell, and the pair glance around, there is only so many places for a bloodsucker to hide in the late morning, the sun will be up soon.

To their surprise, the ballsy little bloodsucker is running up the hill in plain view. Brett rolls his eyes and crouches down, a short howl revealing his canine form. It wasn’t a necessary sound but the older wolf had always enjoyed a good hunt, and the howl usually prompted a vamp to run in the opposite direction.

But again, the vamp defies their expectations and continues running toward them, even speeding up a bit. James barks out a laugh but allows his claws to grow and teeth to elongate in case of trouble.

Brett finally chases the bloodsucker down and drags him to the door, grinning a wolf grin up at James. He laughs again and kneels down to the vampire’s level, a little unnerved at what he found. The flighty little vampire who had been swept out of the hall laid spread out on the snow before him, breathing heavy, unnecessary breaths as Brett’s teeth poke little indents into the pale skin of his neck.

“Oh good,” He gasps with a strange grin, “I’m not dead yet.”

Under other circumstances James might have laughed at the irony of a _vampire_ saying that, but he’s just a little unnerved by the small vampire joking while Brett’s jaws are only a few inches from snapping down and ending him right there.

“Could you take me to your Alpha?” The vamp asks, “I have news that might interest him.”

“And why-” James is interrupted by the realization that his teeth are still that of a wolf and shifts to a more human form to talk, mildly embarrassed. “And why should we do that? For all we know, you’ve come to kill everyone in that hall.”

There’s a short, humorless laugh as the vampire shakes his head slightly. “Me? A sickly little vampire with no silver? I must be one suicidal assassin.” It’s a little hard to argue against that logic so James sighs and gestures for Brett to let him go.

The pale vamp struggles to his feet, legs seeming to have gone numb from his run up the hill. James takes pity on him and offers an arm as leverage to stand up, which the vampire takes with a grin. He does that a lot, it’s a little unnerving with the unnaturally large fangs that poke out over his lips when he smiles. James suspects that why he does it, to put people off balance, and hates to admit that it’s working.

Beside him, Brett shifts to human form and scowls. “You better have a good explanation for this when he asks why we have a fucking _vamp_ in the hall, or we’re gonna get our asses kicked.”

James snorts, “Or why _you_ have a vamp. You do outrank me, _beta_.”

“Go fuck yourself _omega_.” Brett growls back as he opens to door to the hall, for all the joking he is right, the Alpha will kill them if they don’t have a good explanation. But they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it.

The vampire takes a deep breath as they walk into the hall, wrinkling his nose slightly. “Smells like wet dog,” He mutters and James would like to say he didn’t snort but, he’s a shit liar and he fucking does.

The reaction from the Alpha is almost instantaneous, he sweeps into the room, lips curled back in a snarl as he leaps for the vampire’s throat. Brett and James are quick to back away as the vampire is slammed into the hardwood floor, a loud crack echoing in the hall.

“What the _fuck_ is _this_ doing here?” He snarls at them, anger rolling off of him in waves. On pure instinct James whines and ducks behind Brett’s protective form, the omega part of him taking control for a split second. Luckily for them, and the vampire, Brett manages to retain his rational brain and splutters out an answer.

“He has information for you!”

The Alpha growls and seems torn between killing the vampire and ripping Brett’s throat out, eyes a gold that sends shivers down James’ spine. He manages to grasp control back from the primal part of him and steps out from behind Brett, hands fists at his side in an attempt to keep control.

“Maybe you should let him speak before you kill him,” The Alpha narrows his eyes and James fights back a whine, “Please sir?” The honorific is tacked on but seems to placate the Alpha, as he takes a deep breath and pulls his claws from around the vampire’s throat slowly. He leaves a shallow cut that makes the vampire groan softly and all the while, the little bloodsucker is still grinning, though it takes a more feral look as dark red blood starts to trickle sluggishly down his neck.

“Speak,” The Alpha commands, still sitting atop the vampire’s abdomen with his arms crossed.

“They’re planning an attack,” The vampire says, “In the next few days, during the night when you all are out on a hunt.”

“They?” The Alpha cocks his head and the small vampire rolls his eyes.

“My brood? Y’know, the people you’ve been antagonizing for the past few hundred years?” He sighs heavily, “Anyway, I’ve come for your help.”

He seems to wait, gauging the Alpha’s reaction while waiting for a response. James find himself waiting too, if he’s right and they’re about to be attacked, then they need this little vampire. Hopefully their Alpha won’t be so hungry for blood that he doesn’t see that.

Thankfully, the Alpha nods. “What do you want?”

“Protection,” The vampire says simply, “If my brood was to find out I fed you this information?” He drags a free hand across his neck in an exaggerated gesture for death. “You kill them, I live in your territory.”

James rolls the idea around in his head, he’s got a point. A lone vamp would be an easy target for someone with the elder’s connections, but a vamp in a wolf pack’s territory would be untouchable. The vampire has obviously thought about this a great deal.

“Boys?” The Alpha turns to Brett and James for opinions, to the great surprise of both. “He’s yours after all.”

Brett sighs and gestures to James, effectively stepping out of the conversation, leaving James to think of an answer as fast as possible.

“Uh, we should do it. If they are going to attack us, it would help to have someone who knew their innerworkings. Right?” He tries not to duck his head and hide as the Alpha growls slightly, staring down at the vampire.

The silence after he speaks seems to stretch out for hours before the Alpha nods and gets off the vampire, pulling the smaller man up with him. To his credit, the vamp still looks relatively calm and the smile is still twisting his lips. He straightens his shirt and gives a soft sigh, “You wolves and your obsession with choking people, gonna give someone the wrong idea.” He mutters under his breath, Brett muffles a snort in his hand as the Alpha narrows his eyes.

“I have one more question for you.”

“Shoot,” He answers, though seems more occupied with fixing his cuffs.

“Why betray your kin?”

For the first time, the smile slips off his lips and the vampire lets out an actual sigh. His hands find the buttons of his shirt and makes quick work of them, slipping the white fabric off his shoulders to reveal more pale skin. James is about ready to ask what the fuck he was doing when he noticed them. Cuts, bruises, scars, fucking _bite marks,_ most just scabbing over like they were brand new. His torso is covered by them, and judging by the noise his Alpha makes, his back is much the same. The blemishes reach from the hem of his jeans to the collar of his shirt, as if someone was careful to keep the marks below plain view. And even then, most of them are almost concealed by his sprawling tattoos.

“They did _this?_ ” For once, his Alpha sounds shaken. How could a brood do this? James had known that broods were different than packs but _holy fuck._

“I’m the youngest brother,” The vampire shrugged, like it was _okay_. “I’ve just gotten tired of it I guess.” His voice is soft, face vulnerable without that infernal grin, and James feels a sudden surge of protectiveness towards the thin vamp.

Apparently the Alpha felt it too as he sighed and pushed the vampire’s shirt back to cover him. “It occurs to me I never asked your name,” He says gently, changing the topic with a smile so rarely shown to anyone outside of the pack.

The vampire gives a soft laugh and does a shallow bow, “It's Aleksander, but call me Aleks.”

“Alright then Aleks, I’m going to entrust you to Brett and James for the day,” The Alpha smiles at them, “Tell them what you can and don’t be afraid to holler if you need something. I have some things to reschedule.”

Brett seems to shake himself out of a trance as Aleks turns to them, the smile back in place, though toned down a bit from the feral look earlier. “Come with me,” He says quietly. And suddenly James remembers that his pack is asleep, he cringes slightly at the thought of waking them up and motions for Aleks to be quiet.

He catches the confused look the vampire shoots him as Brett grabs a first aid kit and leads them into an empty bedroom. James simply sighs and ushers him inside, it would be easier to explain once inside the room.

Brett pushes Aleks down on the bed gently, forcing him to sit still as he pulls the vampire’s shirt off. Aleks shoots James another, slightly more startled look and the other wolf snorted.

“It's your fault dude, you triggered his protective instinct, he’s gonna be like this until you’ve been patched up.” He gestures to Brett, who is currently putting disinfectant cream on the barely healed cuts and bites ranging across Aleks’ torso.

“Oh,” The vampire looks a little startled, “I didn’t know you guys did that. So,” He points to Brett and smiles, “He’s Brett right?”

“Yep, I’m James.”

Aleks nods, seeming to take in that information. He's quiet for a moment then, “Hey, can you guys actually not eat wolfs bane?”

Brett frowns at that, taken out of his little trance for a moment by the random question. “No we can’t, the name kinda gives it.”

“Oh, cool.” He doesn’t say anything after that, just stares a hole in the carpet as Brett wraps more bandages than really necessary around his chest. James sighs and glances over at the clock, five hours until sundown. They should probably get what information they can before Aleks has to leave again, though James isn’t too keen on returning his to his brood.

So, despite wanting to leave the vampire alone, James sighs and locks eyes with Aleks. “What can you tell us?”

Aleks sighs, frowning slightly. “He's planned it for next Monday, said that you would be out on a hunt.” He glances down at Brett for confirmation, who simply nods and continues fiddling with the bandages. “We're supposed to break in while you're gone and wait for you to come back, and when you're back-” He cuts himself and shakes his head. “Point is, he's got silver and you're his target.”

“How much?”

“Everyone in the brood has a silver knife,” Aleks shrugs, “Except me of course, can't have the cattle fighting back.” He attempts a laugh but it doesn’t meet  his eyes.

Brett frowns at this and shakes his head, “Are you sure you can't stay here? We can protect you.”

Aleks, for all his joking, looks a little taken aback by the offer. For a moment it looks like he might accept, but it's gone as soon as it crosses his face and the vampire shakes his head.

“I can't, he'll know and them everything I told you will be useless. I shouldn't even be letting you patch me up, he's going to be suspicious.” He tugs at the bandages worriedly, making James frown.  

Something about the look of fear in the vampire’s eyes, combined with his nonchalant attitude and resigned way of speaking makes James want to scoop the thin vampire up and keep him safe until the end of his days.

But instead he just sighs and glances over at the clock, they've only got three hours until sundown. An idea hits him and James grins down at Brett, “Do you have any hoodies?”

“A few, why?” The beta raises an eyebrow as James jumps to his feet, still smiling.

“How do you feel about going for dinner?” He directs this to Aleks, “As a thank you.” Aleks shrugs and James gives a victorious grin, “Fuck yeah.”

* * *

 

James can’t help but laugh every time he glances over at Aleks, the vampire practically swimming in Brett’s oversize hoodie. He’s pulled the hood down while they were in the restaurant, being mostly protected by the windows and walls, and has the sleeves pulled up to his elbows to eat his burger. He’s kinda adorable.

“I thought you guys didn’t need food,” Brett says with a smile, “Or is this just an Aleks thing?”

Aleks shrugs as he swallows the unnaturally large bite he’d just taken, “We don’t _need_ food, doesn’t mean it isn’t _really fucking good_.” And with that, he takes another huge bite and cut off any further questions. James swears he’s unhinging his jaw to take those bite, it’s actually a little scary.

Brett shakes his head and takes a swig of his coke, still smiling. He’s been doing that non-stop since they headed out to the burger joint, probably a side effect of Aleks wearing his hoodie. The vampire smelled almost entirely of Brett and disinfectant. The wolf part of him is a little jealous, whether of Brett or of Aleks, James isn’t sure.

Beside him, Brett makes a surprised noise. “I almost forgot! I’m supposed to give you this,” He hands Aleks a small silver whistle, “All you gotta do is whistle if you need us, doesn’t matter what for.”

He turns it over in his hands, eyes wide as he glances from Brett to James, almost like he thought it was a joke. But James nods and offers a grin, “If you whistle, one of us’ll answer. We usually give these to human friends and mates, but you qualify.”

Aleks seems overwhelmed and James kicks himself, “But you don’t have to call for us if you  don’t want too, or need too. It's really just insurance thing.”

He swears that Aleks sniffs and wipes at his eyes with his sleeve, but it's done too fast for him too be sure. What he does see is the vampire smiling at them, “I’ll be fine. But thanks,” He gestures to his hoodie and to the food, “Thanks for everything.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” James grins, “It’s not like we won’t see you again, we’ve still got our side of the deal to finish, right?”

The thin vampire takes a deep breath and nods, giving the pair of wolves an actual, real smile. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll call if something goes wrong or I need help.” He glances out the restaurant’s window and the smile falls. “I should go.” In nearly the blink of an eye Aleks is gone from the booth, Brett’s hoodie laying in his place.

James sighs, a little disappointed that once they had finally started  _talking,_  the vampire had chosen to run. Brett seems to share his sentiments as he gestures for the bill and shakes his head, annoyance coloring his scent. Time to wait.

* * *

 

It's only two days later when the whistle blows and James bolts out of bed at three am, Brett not far behind him as he races out the door in wolf form. The whistle blasts come slow and keep a pattern so Aleks probably isn’t in any immediate danger, James reasons with himself in an attempt to calm down. Though Brett doesn’t seem to realize the same thing as he’s sprinting full force in the direction the blasts are coming from.

They reach him in under twenty minutes, coming to a rather undignified stop behind a decrepit old warehouse. The air is heady with blood, which James chalks up to being a vampire den, though part of him is searching the air for _Aleks’_ blood just in case.

Brett gives a soft bark when he finds the thin vampire, nosing his small form sitting curled under a spruce tree. The snow has soaked into Aleks’ jeans, dying them a dark color, he’s been here for a while. As Brett wraps his canine form around Aleks’ unresponsive body, whining softly as James slips back into a human form.

He approaches the vampire slowly, like one would approach a wounded animal. “Aleks?”

The vampire’s head snaps up, though he doesn’t look straight at James. Instead, he glances around frantically. “Gotta go, they’ll find you.” He mutters, toying with the whistle in his hands absentmindedly, he doesn’t even seem to realize what he’s doing.

“ _You_ called _us_ Aleks.” James says, shaking his head slowly as he drops to a crouch. He inches closer, “What happened?”

“Fucked up,” Comes the soft answer, “Smelled too much like _dog._ ”

So they’d caused this, James realizes with a frown. He glances up at Brett and gives a shrug, unsure what to do. The beta shifts back to human and slips an arm around Aleks’ shoulders, finally getting him to actually _look_ at them.

His eyes are tired and red, dried tears leaving tracks across his cheeks. James comes to a stop in front of Aleks, offering his hands as a peaceful gesture. Aleks takes them with a gentle grip and seems to gain a bit of clarity, smiling up at both James and Brett.

After a few more moments of silence, Aleks speaks again. “Sorry I woke you up so early,” He tries for a joking tone, and Brett humors him with a short laugh.  
“Eh, I needed the exercise anyway,” He says, “But uh, what did they do too you?”

“Withheld my ration of blood and nearly drank me dry,” Aleks pulls the collar of his shirt down to expose the handful of new bite marks along his collar,

“I’m not allowed back inside until I _beg._ ” He gives a laugh that holds a surprising amount of mirth, “And that’s not fucking likely.”

James feels the beginning of an idea form in the back of his head and squeezes Aleks’ hands lightly.

“So, they expect you to die out here?” James grins as he gets confirmation in the form of a nod, “Then they wouldn’t expect a body right?”

Brett seems to catch on and grins, pulling away from Aleks to shuck off his hoodie. Offering to the vampire with the grin still in place.

After a moment of silence, Aleks laughs. “Wow, getting me out of my clothes before a second date? Scandalous.” He makes quick work of his shirt and jeans, having to do a rather undignified hop to get out of the latter due to the snow, and slips Brett’s still hilariously oversized sweatshirt on over his bare chest and boxers.

“We’ll have to take you to James’ apartment,” Brett says, “I’m at least ninety percent sure that the Alpha won’t take kindly to us bringing you back to the hall nearly starved.”

Aleks snorts, “Wouldn’t want me mauling the wolves, right?”

James gathers the vampire’s discarded clothes and arranges them under the tree, dusting snow over them as if they’d been sitting for awhile, while Brett shifts and allows Aleks to still atop his back. The vampire shakes unsteadily as the large wolf takes a few experimental steps forward, making James laugh.

“Hold on tight!” He offers in lieu of advice as he shifts to match Brett, barking excitedly to signal he’s ready to go.

Aleks takes a tight hold of Brett’s fur and with that, the pair of werewolves are off, Aleks yelping as Brett jumps a few more times than necessary. 


	2. Chapter 2

They shift back in an alley, Aleks barely getting his feet under him and nearly cracking his head open on the ground as he sways. He manages to stay upright and James offers him an apologetic smile and sweeps the vampire into his arms.

“ _What the_ _fuck_?” Aleks whisper-yells, glaring at James.

“Sorry,” He laughs, “But I need an excuse to explain  _ this _ -” He gestures to Aleks’ general state of undress “-And I figure we’ve hit the town a little  _ too _ hard.”

Brett laughs at this and pats Aleks’ calf, “I think you’ve had a little too much darling.” 

Rolling his eyes, Aleks relents and relaxes into James’ hold. He suddenly gains a dazed look in his eyes and smiles sweetly up at the pair of wolves, “Take me home  _ мои милые,”  _ He says with just enough of a slur to make James laugh. 

Brett snorts and sets off out of the alley, James and Aleks lagging behind because  _ wow _ the skinny vampire is heavier than he looks. Probably all his fucking attitude. 

The older lady that oversees James’ apartment complex gives him a disapproving stare and toddles over, still frowning. “And who's this young man?” She raises an eyebrow, over the years she’s gotten used to Brett coming over to James’ apartment at odd hours, but the pair of them bringing a near naked man back to the apartment just before sunrise? That was probably a cause for concern, at least in her mind.

The wolf offers a smile and shrugs as best he can while holding Aleks, who has decided to play a clingy drunk and is refusing to let go of his neck. “A new friend,” James offers, “We’ve been out all night.” He attempts to adjust his arms so the vampire’s fangs weren’t  _ so _ close to his neck.

“We’re not really sure where his pants went,” Brett jokes, again patting Aleks’ calf. The smaller man sigh dramatically and attempt to cuddle closer to James’ neck, seeming to chase the warmth. “But I figure he can sleep it off and then go home in the morning.”

James barely breathes as their landlady processes their story, half staring at her and half staring down at Aleks as he tucks himself into James’ arms cozily. But finally she gives a reluctant nod and gestures for them to continue on. 

“Keep an eye on him,” She calls after them, “I don't want any noise complaints before ten.”

Brett just snorts and throws a ‘sure’ over his shoulder, leading James and Aleks up the stairs carefully. 

James sets the smaller man down on their couch and wanders off in search of a pair of pants he can borrow, eventually settling on some sweatpants he finds in the bottom of one of his drawers. 

Aleks doesn't seem ready to relinquish his hold on Brett’s hoodie just yet so he slips on the sweatpants and sits almost completely still on the couch, suddenly looking out of it again, eyes glazed over, arms and legs limp. Brett waves one hand in front of the vampire’s eyes and he barely gets a response. 

“You doing alright there, Aleks?” Brett shakes his shoulder gently. He nods but slumps farther into the couch, like he was half asleep.

“Aleks,” James snaps his fingers in front of the vampire’s half lidded eyes, “Come on man, what's wrong?”

“Blood loss,” Aleks mutters, curling into himself as if trying to hide from them. “Nothin’ in my veins.”

Oh shit, James glances up at Brett, seeking some sort of instruction. A half starved vampire crashing on their couch with no way of going hunting himself, fan-fucking-tastic. The beta sighs heavily and shrugs on another one of his jackets, “I’ll find him something, keep an eye on him.”

James nods, not sure what to say. “Be quick, I don’t like the idea of being eaten.” Brett snorts and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like ‘pussy’ under his breath. Then he’s gone, leaving James alone with their new house guest. 

Speaking of Aleks, the small vampire is even paler than normal and his lips are indented by his fangs as he clenches his teeth. He curls away from James and seems to be trying to ignore him, like he can’t hear the blood racing in James’ veins.

“Aleks,” Nothing, “Aleks, come on man. What can I do?” The vampire groans and clenches his fist,

“Leave me. Better that way.” His speech is slurred by his fangs and the tightness of his jaw. 

“Can't do that, can I get something for you to bite so you don't shatter your goddamn jaw?” He’s getting frantic, worried about himself and Aleks’ safety. Slowly, the vampire nods and James shoots to his feet in search of something like a belt or shirt, soft but enough to withstand Aleks’ fangs. Sure enough he finds an old jacket of his and wads up one of the sleeves, the fake leather should be good enough for Aleks.

The moment he hands it over to Aleks the small vampire growls, a deep sound that makes James want to leave, and sinks his fangs into the sleeve. He seems to calm almost immediately, like a teething baby. Aleks chews on the jacket and James quietly laments the loss of one of his many leather jackets, but smiles at the no longer imminent threat of being devoured by a tiny vampire twink. 

Brett nearly kicks the door open a few minutes later, a rabbit corpse clutched in one hand. He tosses it to Aleks, who immediately abandons James’ coat for the food. They watch in slight amazement as the small man tears into the animal, he eats almost everything other than the bones, leaving a small pile on his lap as he licks his lips.

After a few moments of silently thanking Brett for his godly timing, James clears his throat. “You all good now?”

Aleks laughs quietly, “Yeah, I'm all good. Thank you so much.” He looks sleepy now, eyes half lidded and a soft smile lingering on his lips. “I don't know how I’m gonna thank you two.”

“Stay alive,” Brett says, ruffling the vampire’s hair gently, “That's all we need.” Aleks smiles at him happily and turns his attention to James for a moment,

“Sorry about the coat, man.” James gives a dismissive gesture and shrugs,

“Better than being eaten.” Aleks nods, seemingly satisfied, and relaxes into the couch. Brett laughs and scoops him up, carrying the smaller man to James’ guest room and plopping him down on the bed. He draws the blinds and closes the curtains, patting Aleks’ forehead as he leaves. 

Brett flops down on the couch next to James and lets out a groan, James laughs quietly and gives a nod of agreement before resting his head on the beta’s shoulder. They flick on some mindless movie and James is already half asleep as Brett kisses his forehead and pulls him into a hug. It's been a long-ass day.

**Author's Note:**

> Come hit me up on tumblr my dudes! I co-run an account of the same name! (Allhailthenerdmage)


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